Caching Name:  G’dayCutter

Real Name:         Pat Hackett

1. How did you become involved in geocaching?
I was walking my dogs in White Clay State Park and came across a mother and son poring over some paper. Thinking they might be lost I asked if I could help. They told me that during the summer when school is out they do Letterboxing. I asked what that was and they gave me the website. I became intrigued that there were things hidden in the woods for people to find. My son then said “If you like that, then you would probably like geocaching.” Never were words so fateful. I laugh when I remember I did all my caching for one year with just the auto Garmin which was bulky and often ran the batteries down before I reached the cache area.

2. How did you choose your caching name?
G’Day was a black and white border collie and Cutter was a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. They came with me on almost all my early caching trips. They are both gone now but I am happy to have an awesome pathtag depicting their faces thanks to my husband who designed it for my last birthday.

3. What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, and puzzle, virtual?
I prefer traditional but learn so much from virtual and earth caches that I will include them in a run if there are any nearby. .

4. Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?
I keep plugging away at puzzle caches and will ask the CO for help whenever I get stuck. They are my nemesis since now more and more of my unfound caches are puzzle. My map is becoming filled with those :( blue question marks.
Since I am on the short side, physically, caches that are hidden high up present challenges for me as well.

5. What are your current geocaching goals?
I remember when I first started caching, I ran into MikeOtt on a trail and he asked
that exact same question. At that time, I had no goals except to find a cache every
now and then while out on a walk with the dogs. I am not much into numbers but every now and then a challenge comes up and I try to find a way to do that, like the Centum challenge.

6. Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?
I would love to get a cache in all fifty states. This will be hard since my husband is not a cacher ( but is supportive.) Whenever we travel I try to get at least one cache if it is a new state or even country. This past spring I was thrilled to get a large number of caches in the UK.

7. What is your most memorable caching experience?
Well I will never forget finding my very first cache, Dam Trolls Could Have Lived Here, GLIZDZTY. I was with my husband, sister and three dogs on that walk, and actually my sister found the cache but we had a lot of fun. That was November 2008. I have always been inspired by other cachers who do very creative things with their caches. I will not name names because I may leave someone out but high on my list of creative hides are the caches of the “Gadget Trail” in West Virginia.

8. What do you like about geocaching?
I love finding those little parks nobody knows about. Caching has taken me to breathtaking views, serene ponds, stunning overlooks, and even clever hides in very urban places. What is love most is finding a way to put out a cache of my own that no one has ever done before. I like finding things left as trash and then turning it into a cache. I like to put out caches that will make people smile.
Most of my caching friends know that if there is a geotrail with a coin at the end, off I go.

9. Do you have some favorite caches in the area?
If you have ever done it, who could ever forget “Your Key to Cache”- GC3DYYT. Each cache of the “Hobbit” and “LOTR” series was also clever and different.

10. Do you have any other hobbies or interests?
I have two new dogs now that are in training to become agility dogs. My last two were agility champions so I have great hopes for my new pups. In addition, I love to study native plants and wildlife. I am always stopping to admire a rare plant I may find in the woods. Most people do not realize we have native orchids in the woods here. I have spent many years planting rare and native plants in my own yard and now have a certified “Backyard Wildlife Habitat” awarded to me by the National Wildlife Federation.

 Caching Name:  Scrapple-ers

Real Name:            John and Dawn Tomeski

1. How did you become involved in geocaching?
In April 2006, John’s brother, #1Papabear, came to visit from NC and said, “I have this cool new hobby for you to try, I think you’ll like it.”

Our first adventure was actually in Redden Forest, when they allowed caches, we got muddy and walked all over the woods and had the best time EVER, and we were HOOKED.

2.  How did you choose your caching name?
We live in Bridgeville. It is home to an apple orchard and a scrapple plant, so we did a little play on the name.

3.  What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, and puzzle, virtual?
Traditional are the most favored, but we LOVE virtuals because you learn and see so much more with them. NOT fans of puzzles.

4.  Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?
We like the physical challenges. We did one in NC that we had to walk on a guide wire (tight rope) over the top of a pond to get the cords and cross back to climb a tower about 150 ft high to get the cache. THAT WAS AWESOME!! Some of us had a little more difficulty crossing on the wire, when things start to jiggle and wiggle, ya kinda lose your balance.

5. What are your current geocaching goals?
We would like to travel a little more and find some unique caches. And maybe place a few more caches.

 6. Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?
Well, we’ve been mainly in the Mid-Atlantic states, I think we’d like to just head west and see wherer the GPSr takes us.

 7. What is your most memorable caching experience?
We have experienced so many different caches, there are some really challenging ones out there. We’ve been on a tightrope, in wells, under streets, climbed trees in the middle of a highway, kayaking, crossed a river on foot, and did the BLING trail in a day (can we say exhausting?) It really is hard to pinpoint one cache specifically.

8. What do you like about geocaching?
We love the adventure and the really great people we’ve become friends with. It is a great sport/hobby that anyone can do. We love travelling and getting off the highway.

 9. Do you have some favorite caches in the area? 
The kayak caches are really the most fun to us.

10. Do you have any other hobbies or interests?
We are crafters, we make a lot of different wood crafts and small furniture.
John and the older kids (KATnissT and BMXer17) are fire fighters.
Brad (B.A.Tman) is going into 1^st grade and plays baseball and ice hockey.

Caching Name:  ivorybilledbirder
Real Name: Dominic Morrell        

1. How did you become involved in geocaching?
I first discovered geocaching in Knights of the Dinner Table, which is a comic that follows the lives of 5 people who play roleplaying games. That’s why my profile says I joined in November. But once I realized there were no caches extremely close to my house, I never signed on again. In January, I started reading Ken Jenning’s Maphead, in which he discusses the topic of geocaching and his experiences finding caches. Then I remembered I already signed up in November. The next week, I tried to find 10 caches in Dover, failing to find every single one. I stopped again, but when I was home sick on the last day of February, I went out and found a cache just around the corner, which was Opus Caementicium (now archived.) Not only was it muddy, but the place was quite overgrown. Just before I was going to give up, I spotted a huge lump of concrete with the container on the underside. I was hooked from then on!

2.  How did you choose your caching name?
I loved birding when I was a bit younger, but one of the birds that always fascinated me was the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, a bird down in the lower Mississippi that many presume to be extinct, despite a possible sighting back in 2005. That bird is also my avatar.

3.  What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, and puzzle, virtual?
 I very much enjoy seeking any type of cache, but one of my favorite ways to pass the time is to look at a challenging puzzle.  And pester the CO for hints.

4.  Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?
Hmm… that’s a tough one. Most of rehobch’s puzzles take a heck of a lot of effort and hints to crack. There was one by the Canadian border whose hint was ‘stump’, not because it was in a stump but because you had to stand on a stump to reach it. It took us forever to find. Oh, and there was one cache that was hidden along a hunting path. We took the best path; however the cache was actually on the other side of the path, across a large ditch and through a field of tall thorns. Ouch.

 5. What are your current geocaching goals?
Well, I am planning to hit 500 on August 16^th, as it is International Geocaching Day. After that, we might attend GWXIII, and along the way find 5 states and 10 icons in 1 day. It would also be nice to solve Pure Evil and complete the Delaware Fizzy Challenge.

 6. Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?
It would be nice to take I-90 from Massachusetts to Washington! Or cross the border from Massena, NY into Ontario, or visit another Western European country. Some day…

 7. What is your most memorable caching experience?
Wow, I really have quite a lot. In fact, I might just have to make a list of those. But I have to say, the #1 caching experience I’ve had caching was up in New York. There was this one cache that was next to the Chateaugay River, however to get there you had to take a steep path from a small gravel parking lot down under the river bridge. Not only were there great views, but the hider provided a picture map hidden by the parking lot, so I didn’t even use my GPS! 

8. What do you like about geocaching?
I’m not exactly an outdoors person, but ever since I discovered geocaching, I’ve found that it’s my excuse to go outdoors. I now know of so many more interesting places- parks, monuments, museums, and even Melvil Dewey’s birthplace! (If you didn’t know, he invented the Dewey Decimal system, which categorizes library books.)  

9. Do you have some favorite caches in the area?
Some of my favorite Dover caches were:
(GC22ZY1) St. Jones Reserve Beyond the Marsh
(GC43RYY) king of the world at the dog park (my 1^st cache)
(GC104JE) Flash Cache
Mainly because they involved nice, short hikes or fun climbs.

 10. Do you have any other hobbies or interests? 
I run a Dungeons & Dragons group every other Friday with some friends I’ve known for a while now, which inspired me to create my D&D cache. I also enjoy a bit of coin collecting and birding now and then. 

Caching Name:  Waypointed

Real Name:         Cush Walton

1. How did you become involved in geocaching?
Bookworm3 and my brother asked me if I’d like to go geocaching with them in January of 2010. I enjoyed the walk through Carousel Park that day. I think they let me find one so I wouldn’t feel bad. A couple of years passed and I got a smart phone. I saw and downloaded the available app and didn’t find a cache for a month and a half. The next year I was caching nearly every day, smitten as it were.

 2.  How did you choose your caching name?
My original choice, a chat name from the late nineties, was lengthy and a mouthful to pronounce. A couple of hundred caches into it I decided Waypointed was appropriate since it implied my usual state of being while geocaching.

 3.  What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, and puzzle, virtual? 
I’m hardly picky. It would depend on the day but overall I believe I like unknowns most of all. The satisfaction of having solved a puzzle or having met a challenge often trumps the find itself. There being no lack of mind melters available, I find that I learn a lot even if I don’t solve the puzzles.

 4.  Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?
Mentally, Frank and Lola (GC1MNEZ), a traditional cache in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, gets the nod. Caching solo that day, I went through stages of anger, denial, loathing, boredom, calm, and insight before I found this cache. It is one of the cleverest hides I have seen. Everything I needed to know was right there in front of me. I didn’t time it but I was probably searching about forty five minutes before I found it.

Physically, the unknown cache 6 X 6 Challenge – One Crazy Busy Day (GC48TNN), would fit the bill. Having to get six different cache types, each in a different state, requires a lot of driving. Then there is the cache itself, which I logged with a group of South Jersey cachers in a snowstorm.

5. What are your current geocaching goals?
My main current goal is to reach and maintain a caching karma rating of above one. Since I plan to maintain or exceed my present find rate, my approach to attaining this goal is by placing more hides.

I find BadgeGen to be a great motivator. Getting the black belt is a long term goal. Attending a Mega Event is another of my goals. That should happen at Hagerstown, MD. Ultimately, I would like to visit Seattle and Groundspeak

 6. Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?
I look forward to caching in and around Marble, Colorado where a friend of mine lives. The area offers a wide range of caches including extreme ones such as Stone Pony (GC6DC7).

I’d also like to spend some time caching in the Florida Keys. The Thunderbird geoart in Idaho is intriguing. Closer to home, I have yet to cache in New York state or city. WVTim is calling, too.

 7. What is your most memorable caching experience?
Two experiences come to mind. The first was Forgotten Monument (GCBB59) in Valley Forge. That virtual cache affected me deeply and in a way that no other cache has duplicated.

The second was my thousandth find, Bear Swamp Hill “Landing Gear” (GCC70B). That day’s events involved more than I could have imagined which included nearly colliding with a six point buck, encountering a couple dozen dour search and rescue officials on a mission, and making an unplanned two mile addition to the hike since my car handles two foot deep puddles rather poorly. My partner that day, cacheaholic! gets a lot of credit for helping me achieve that milestone.

 8. What do you like about geocaching?
Geocaching offers people the freedom and liberty to make it what they want it to be. I enjoy being outside and meeting new people. I have lived in Delaware almost all of my life and have spent a good deal of time outdoors. Geocaching has shown me so many places in the state that I did not know existed, sometimes only a mile or two from where I live.

 9. Do you have some favorite caches in the area? 
Certainly, Your Key To Cache (GC3DYYT) is one. Watching the Ships go By (GC2QCZC) was excellent. The Hobbit #2 – Roast Mutton (the Trolls) (GC41NR9) has been one of my favorites from the start. The Patriotic TB Hotel (GC48FNK) ranks high as well. Evil Weevil (GC3EP3Z) nearly floored me.

 10. Do you have any other hobbies or interests? 
I enjoy growing tomatoes and hot peppers.  I am a devotee of astronomy and sometimes haul out my ten inch reflector to observe the celestial sights.  Other interests include numismatics, bird watching and a rather obscure branch of philately and deltiology involving parcel post postage.

I like to read novels. I have always liked rock and roll as well as most other music genres. Right now, though, geocaching tops the list!

Caching Name:  no ceiling

Real Name:    Al Stuart

1. How did you become involved in geocaching?
I bought a GPSr for planning off-road excursions in my Jeep. When I found out there was an outdoors game based on my new toy, I was hooked!

2.  How did you choose your caching name?
It’s a reference to a song on the movie soundtrack to “Into the Wild”. When I’m out caching, there’s no ceiling keeping me contained. There’s just sky and wilderness.

3.  What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, and puzzle, virtual?
I like to mix it up. I go out of my way to get virtuals, since they are an endangered species. I like a good puzzle cache when it’s creative or gets me to think differently about what a cache can be. Multis are not too common anymore and are often creative, so they’re a good target. Traditionals are always there to fill in the gaps!

4.  Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?
I think when you’re confronted with a difficult hide, maybe returning multiple times, it really forces you to expand your horizons and put yourself in the hider’s shoes. It opens up your observation skills and perceptions. So the mental aspect is definitely the most challenging.

5. What are your current geocaching goals?  
This year I’m going less for the numbers and more for geographical stats, like new states and countries.I’d also like to fill out more of my Jasmer and Fizzy grids. Power trails are tempting for picking up the find tally but leave me bored. Tracking down elusive D/T or historic caches has replaced the numbers excitement for me.

6.  Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?
 I would love to explore Alaska and above the Artic Circle in Canada, and find some really remote caches!

7.  What is your most memorable caching experience?
I definitely won’t forget Border Frontier (http://coord.info/GCGA4T). It’s on the border of Maine and Quebec in the middle of nowhere. I took a group of friends on a 4×4/hiking/bushwacking adventure and we had a blast. We also met some unexpected Canadians along the way. This cache encompasses everything great about caching in my opinion: wilderness, remote areas off the beaten track, exploring with friends, and magnificent scenery.

8.  What do you like about geocaching?
It’s a reason to get outside. No matter where I’m traveling, even if it’s a small town, caches will probably lead to something interesting. Also, it’s a bit off-centered, which suits my personality.

9.  Do you have some favorite caches in the area?
I enjoyed Battery 519 (http://coord.info/GC1B6VZ), as Cape Henelopen is a fantastic park and my grandfather was stationed here before WWII. Lewis Cache and Dash (http://coord.info/GC5C2D) is great just for its endurance (2002) and how the term “cache and dash” changed over the years. Finally, I love boundary markers and benchmarks, so WGD 2012 – Mason-Dixon Marker (http://coord.info/GC3FJ8T) is a local favorite of mine.

10. Do you have any other hobbies or interests?
When I’m not caching, I enjoy camping with my kids, working on my cars and making pizza from scratch.

Caching Name:   JCFDelaware

Real Name:      Joyce Ford

1)   How did you become involved in geocaching?
It is all Paige formerly of TheGrahams311’s fault that I got involved with Geocaching. I was at work with her one day and she said lets go do something fun during our lunch break and she took me to my first cache and I was hooked.

2)   How did you choose your caching name?
I had to come up with a name really quick and I am not very imaginative, so I just went with my initials and the state that I lived in. After I stared caching more and saw all the cool names people had I thought about changing it, but I like it now because no one has to guess where I am from. J

3)   What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, puzzle, virtual?
I like virtual caches the most. They are usually always history related or they take you somewhere to see something that is really cool. I wish that they would let them be published again.

4)   Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?
The caches that are most challenging for me are the puzzle caches. I have the hardest time trying to even know were to begin to solve them. I don’t have a lot of free time to try to figure them out so I don’t even try.

5)   What are your current geocaching goals? 
I guess my current goal would be to reach 2,000. My long term goal would be to do a cache in every state.

6)   Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?
I would really like to go to Europe. I have a travel bug that is traveling to all sorts of countries over there and I would like to visit some of the cache that it has been to.

7)   What is your most memorable caching experience?
There have been so many memorable experiences that it is hard to choose one and I am sure the best are yet to come. But the most recent one was when I went with Tabbikat to WVTim’s seminar and The Gadgets of Berks County Kick Off Event. We found out that there were still coins left for the Berks County Trail. So we hooked up with Corpsplow, Rynamon & Jeffs47 and spent the next 10 hours in a van. It was a very long day, but we had a blast!

8)   What do you like about geocaching? 
I love to go places that I have never been before and geocaching has done that for me. It has also giving me the opportunity to met and become friends with some really great people.

9)   Do you have some favorite caches in the area?
Some of my favorite caches in my area are the Desperate House Wife series. They were very cute.

10) Do you have any other hobbies or interests?  
My other hobbies include genealogy and scrapbooking. I don’t get to work on either one very much anymore because I rather go geocaching. During the summer I like to spend most of my time with my husband on our boat.

Caching Name:  minpin

Real Name:  Kathy Saturday

1. How did you become involved in geocaching?
It’s a family sport!  My brother got involved with geocaching in 2004.  He tried to get me involved.  I looked at the information, but never went out for a find.  Then, my sister visited my brother in 2006 and he took her out caching.  When I visited my sister for Christmas took me out caching and I was hooked.  I’ve been a member since 2007.

2. How did you choose your caching name?
My caching name comes from my dogs.  They are Miniature Pinschers or minpins.  So I used that as my caching name.

• 3. What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, and puzzle, virtual? 

I like the traditional hides, especially those in the woods or other natural setting.

4. Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?
The difficult puzzle caches are challenging for me.  I would rather be outside in nature than spend the time required to solve some of these mindbenders!

5. What are your current geocaching goals? 
I do geocaching for fun, so I try not to set too many goals.  I’ll probably try to get to the next thousand, 7000, this year.

6. Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?
I’ve cached in 22 states; I’d like to cache in the other 28!

7. What is your most memorable caching experience?
I found a dead man while I was caching at Horsey Pond near Laurel, DE on my first day of retirement! That is something I will never forget.  The guy had committed suicide and had been out in his truck near the pond for 10 days.  I was trying for a multi-cache near the pond and came across him.  This is an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone!  At least his family and the police were able to get some closure on his whereabouts as a result of this encounter.  And I didn’t even find the cache that day!

8. What do you like about geocaching?
I like getting out in nature.  Geocaching has taken me to some very interesting and very beautiful places that I would have never visited otherwise. I also enjoy talking with other cachers and attending events.

9. Do you have some favorite caches in the area?
Well, the Horsey Pond multi (GCD3C9) is one I will always remember!   Your Key to Cache (GC3DYYT) was certainly a big hit with me.  No Panda’s Here (GC15M76) was a real adventure.  More recently, the New Lite Pole (GC4Y7MQ) gave me a good laugh.
 

10. Do you have any other hobbies or interests? 
I am a singer and perform with the Diamond State Chorus, a local Sweet Adelines Chorus.  I am an avid cross stitcher.  I like working in the yard and playing with my dogs.

March – Cacher of the Month

Caching Name: mhudson59

Real Name: Mike Hudson

1. How did you become involved in geocaching?
The dad of a ten year old kid told me about it. So I got on the web and looked it up, and fell in love with Geocaching.  Found my first cache on 11/20/2012.

2.  How did you choose your caching name? 
Regrettably I didn’t give it much thought and just typed in my email address which is short for my name and year I was born. If I had this choice to make again, I would choose my old IRQ chat room name which was “Bulldog”.  Too late now, oh well. :)

3.  What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, puzzle, virtual? 
You know, I like the easier puzzles, and love a plan-ole traditional just as much.

4.  Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?
The harder puzzles, and there are a lot of them around here.

5. What are your current geocaching goals?   
I haven’t set any big goals, but to enjoy meeting and making new friends, going and seeing places that I have not been to.

6.  Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?
Washington DC and on the Bike Trails, California, and of course Oregon.

7.  What is your most memorable caching experience?I have two that stand out. First is helping Old School Skater place the “Patriarch Tree” cache in kayaks. Second was finishing the “Gone Fishing” multi at Trap Pond.

8.  What do you like about geocaching? 
Meeting people, seeing new and interesting places, and hiding new caches. I have found that Geocaching has created an avenue for me to get out there and make new friends. I enjoy the hunt and of course the find. Preferably a FTF, but around here that’s a choreJ. I also enjoy trading and tracking TB’s.

9. Do you have some favorite caches in the area?
I suppose I am partial to my first find. I was so surprised to see how it was made. I was instantly hooked when I found that cache. (GC1XQMQ Line Church)

10. Do you have any other hobbies or interests? 
Oh yea, I love to bass fish and spend a fair amount of time in the summer doing that.I also play music, I play guitar in church and in a small band of ole buddies from way back. We just play for fun. I also am a competitive pistol shooter. Love to go to a USPSA match when I can. My wife and I love to go camping and sit around a camp fire talking. Come join us some time, I’ll fix you a burger and a hotdog. J. I ride bicycle as often as I can. My wife and I ride our tandem when we camp. Last but not least, I enjoy going to church and thanking God for the life he has given us all to enjoy. It’s my goal to enjoy every second he has given us and to help others along the way. I want people to remember me as a man who had many hobbies, loved people, and shared his faith in God with others.

Mike Ott has been named the Geocaching.com Geocacher of The Month!!

http://blog.geocaching.com/2014/03/announcing-the-january-geocacher-of-the-month/

CONGRATS MIKE!!!!!

Caching Name:      Joe Wessels
Real Name:            Joe Wessels

1. How did you become involved in geocaching?   It began in 2005 while researching for a GPS receiver I could use to navigate with when flying my ultra-light powered paraglider (PPG).  I had taken a longer than usual flight one day from an airport in Maryland, flying over into Delaware and (luckily) returning back to the airport.  The scenery below while flying over into Delaware captivated my attention so much that when I turned around to fly back I didn’t notice I had wandered a few miles north of my original route.  I realized this once I encountered the high-tension power lines that run north – South near where the airport was supposed to be.  The power lines were there, but the airport wasn’t.  It took me a few minutes of flying circles to spot the airport which was South of me and fly back to it.  The experience made me realize the possibility of landing somewhere where I didn’t want to and I needed something to keep that from happening.  During my research I discovered references to geo-caching and my curiosity led me to the Geocaching.com website where I learned about geo-caching and saw several caches on the map not far from my home.  After finding the first cache, I was hooked.

2.  How did you choose your caching name?  Lack of imagination – the account was free and I thought it would be a short term affair.  That was almost 9 years ago.

3.  What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, and puzzle, virtual?    Traditional is currently my first choice, as time is usually a factor.  Virtual caches would be my 2^nd pick, because they show me places and information I would not normally pay attention too.  It was definitely a memory making and mind-growing experience.  But, I find I am tiring of the easy traditional finds and am slowly warming up to puzzle caches.  Ask me again in another 9 years.

4.  Which caches were the most challenging, either physically/mentally?     There have been several caches that have caused me to exert myself, but none as much as “GEOCACHE” (GC1NGQ1), in New Jersey (now archived).  We found in April of 2009 as part of Jamie’s Birthday celebration geocaching excursion.  It was a bugger to get (between making a bridge to get over the water causeway and getting pricked by the holly tree stickers), but we got it.

Mentally challenging ~ most rehobch and hostanut geocaches have been responsible for my staying up late at night and giving me migraine headaches.

5. What are your current geocaching goals?  Get at least one cache anytime we travel.  Life in general and other interests compete for available time.  It would be nice to fill the 5×5 square of difficulty and terrain grid someday, but I’m not in a hurry.

6.  Where have you always wanted to go caching but haven’t?    The remaining 23 States

7.  What is your most memorable caching experience?     The Alaska Geo-caching cruise vacation Jamie and I took last summer (June/July 2013).  We discovered the geo-caching cruise while making plans to celebrate our 5^th wedding anniversary.  The cruise ship left out of Vancouver Canada, and we were able to make some stops along the way before leaving to visit the Groundspeak Geo-Caching Headquarters in Seattle Washington and also the site of the first geo-cache placed in Oregon.   The Geo-caching cruise itself was a terrifically enjoyable experience!  Over 70 geo-cachers from ten states attended.  And we also converted several other passengers and crew members on the ship into geo-cachers during the cruise.  Four Events, a flash mob dance with bubbles, geo-caching stories, on-ship geo-caching, and meeting a lot of really great people, in addition to finding a lot of neat caches in Alaska made for a vacation only exceeded by our honeymoon.  Oh, and the cruise itself and all that comes with that put the whole thing in the category of Great Value for an even Greater Time!

8.  What do you like about geocaching?  Golly, where to start?!  Geocaching takes me outside of myself, making me look for and see things I would not normally pay attention to.  How the angle of the sun will either highlight a well hidden cache or help to conceal it.  The need develop situational awareness to help me stay aware of my environment and what may be there that could harm me, like a snake hiding in the crook of a tree, or how wet the side of a hill is I am climbing.  And the never- ending lesson of learning to not let my assumptions of where I think the cache may be hidden cloud my vision of what I am actually seeing at the cache site.  Geocaching has done so much to enhance my life that it’s not possible to list it all here.  But I’m always more than happy to share my thoughts over a cup of coffee with anyone that wants to listen.

9.  Do you have some favorite caches in the area?   By in the area, I think of the whole state of Delaware.  Some of my early favorites were caches placed by Hart612, who is no longer around.  He had some great hides that would make me scratch my head and sometimes use sailor language.  A couple of current caches that readily come to mind are “Joe the Plumber” (GC2QEM8) and “Springfield” (GC25FT5).  Of the 2,577 caches I have found in Delaware, I know there are many more that I am forgetting now that would qualify as favorite, but age takes its toll in the memory department.  If we got together and started talking about caching in Delaware and comparing notes, I would remember many, many more caches that I would call a favorite.

10. Do you have any other hobbies or interests?    While geo-caching ranks right up there in the fun category for me, I have to say flying my ultra-light Powered Para-glider really touches my soul and puts a smile on my face.  It’s a back-pack two-stroke motor with a four foot propeller and a harness seat connected to a paragliding wing.  I’ve been flying for 12 years now and have had the pleasure and joy to see the good earth in a unique way few others have.  I have taken a few thousand photos over the years, while flying, and uploaded some of them to geo-cache web-pages.  I am also a pretty fair Do-It-Yourselfer (DIYer), having completely remodeled our house over the course of a year and nine months.  My latest endeavor in trying to keep the brain cells from rotting away is learning to play the harp.  Coming up to the two-year mark on lessons and it’s actually starting to make sense (no previous musical experience).  I can play a well-recognized version of Happy Birthday to You and Old MacDonald for the granddaughter.

Thank you for the opportunity to chat about Geo-caching.